Tough Love for Joey & David’s ViralCom

Well, I’m not gonna say I told you so, since that’s just rude, I can’t say that I’m surprised that the response has been poor to the Warner Bros. Studio 2.0’s big new webshow ViralCom.

NewTeeVee pretty much sums it up for the rest of us:

“Viralcom is clever and well-produced, but it’s a shame to see these resources go towards making a parody that only serves to make the online video community feel more self-referential and exclusive. What’s especially unfortunate is that the premise of mainstream Hollywood pouring thousands of dollars into exploiting user-generated conflict for profit is clearly meant to be parody — but it’s parody that veers dangerously close to being the truth (especially since Viralcom is produced by Warner Bros Studio 2.0). Sometimes things are funnier because they’re true — but sometimes, they aren’t.”

ViralCom – Funny Promo but…

The next pretty big web series on the launch pad this week is ViralCom, from the early web wonders Joey and David.

Tilzy had a chat with the creators and a mixed (p)review of the trailer.

“The premise is clever, but not altogether novel. Brooklyn-based Black20’s series net_work debuted in early 2007, depicting the company’s insides as a mismanaged business of wacky inefficiencies, odd-couple antics, and the occasional production of a successful viral vid.  But instead of a sometimes surreal office space, J&D take Viralcom to the heart of showbiz: “It exists in a ficticious world where the web is the new Hollywood. We take you behind the scenes at a big ‘Waner Bros.-style’ studio through a cast of characters trying to navigate through this supposed ‘user-generated’ video industry.”

After watching the trailer I had the following thoughts:

“Wow, super-high production value.”

“Hm, didn’t South Park pretty much do this in an episode a week or two ago?”

“Hey wasn’t that, um, that guy from TV”

“Man, this wasn’t cheap to make.”

“Reminds me of the Jay Mohr show Action. It was super-insider LA industry satire.  Remember that show?  No? I fear the same for ViralCom.”